There are known circuit connector arrangements having a variety of connection jacks within a common housing for the provision of a basically compact jack connector arrangement. In addition a specified number of jacks in a vertically stacked and/or adjacently strung arrangement are conventionally provided within a common external housing, a so-called stacked jack arrangement. In general the jack connectors comprise for this purpose a housing having plug connector-receiving openings wherein are disposed electrical terminal contacts for the production of a connection with a received complementary plug connector wherein the electrical terminal contacts are often inserted into the housing from one of the oppositely disposed sides with respect to one of the plug connector-receiving openings by means of modular jack sub-assemblies. Such jack connectors for example form modularly constructed jacks of the type RJ-45 or for example of the type RJ-11 for the purpose of producing connections with correspondingly complementarily formed RJ-45 or RJ-11 plug connectors.
Such connecting systems are also common alongside telephone distribution networks for example in other computer or automation networks wherein are encompassed a variety of data transfer media including coaxial cables, fibre optic cables and telephone cables. Such a network topography is known e.g. as an Ethernet network and is subject to various electrical standards such as for example IEEE 802.3 and others. Such networks must provide a high number of distributed connections and the connecting systems may conventionally occupy only a small space due to progressive miniaturisations in order to provide a variety of different connections.
Since such networks are further operated at high rates of one gigabyte and higher a further requirement is a significant conditioning of the signals to be transferred. Shielding is therefore normally necessary in order for example to provide a so-called Common Mode Rejection (CMR) and to guarantee a specified electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and/or resistance to electromagnetic disturbance. For the purpose of conditioning the signals it is therefore further necessary to incorporate within the arrangement corresponding components such as particularly magnet coils but also capacitive components in order to correspondingly condition the signals.
The printed publication U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,348 B1 discloses one such genre-forming modular jack connector arrangement having an external shield housing around a jack connector housing wherein is insertable a variety of modular jack subassemblies. The modular jack subassemblies respectively comprise in accordance with the printed publication a longitudinal strip-like carrier whose upper and lower sides receive a variety of adjacently strung jack terminals. In addition the strip-like carrier is formed with channels on its upper and lower sides which channels are laterally delimited by ribs and wherein the jack terminals are positioned. On a front end of the strip-like carrier are bent back respective contact portions of the electrical jack terminals that are disposed in the channels which contact portions are held in which slots that extend vertically from respectively the upper and lower sides and communicate with the channels.
The jack terminals extend with their respectively oppositely disposed end with respect to the contact portion into a laterally disposed with respect to the strip-like carrier printed circuit board and there correspondingly form contact connections wherein above and below these contact connections of the printed circuit board and above and below the strip-like carrier are received signal conditioning components. The jack subassemblies are adjacently disposed in the jack connector housing and separated from one another by shield plates. Above and below each strip-like carrier is defined a plug connector receptacle in the jack connector housing in which plug connector receptacle the terminal contacts are disposed above and below the strip-like carrier.
Substantial disadvantages herein are that due to the arrangement of the electrical jack terminals in the channels that are formed between the ribs and including the contact portions that are held in the slots the production both of the strip-like carrier as well as the jack terminals but also the assembly of the two components places maximum demands on accuracy since otherwise an interlocking of the terminals and contacts within the ribs and/or the slots will occur. However even in the case of a high production quality and assembly accuracy a rubbing of the terminals and contact portions on the ribs and in the slots is not completely excluded and this can consequently lead to a premature wearing including associated maintenance and/or repair costs. A further substantial disadvantage of the modular jack connector arrangement in accordance with the US publication is that the number of jack connectors for the provision of a variety of connection jacks by means of the use of a common jack connector housing is specified such that hereby only a limited possible variation of jack connectors is guaranteeable and/or for different applications are to be provided respectively specific jack connector housings which provision leads to a further cost increase particularly with respect to the production and storage.
An object of the invention consequently consists of providing a new and substantially improved modular jack connector structure with respect to the prior art and particularly for use in the case of Ethernet networks whereby can be provided fast and cost effectively and in a maximally flexible manner a space-saving modular jack connector system comprising a corresponding number of jack connectors and consequently connection jacks or ports with respect to the respective specific requirements and wherein for the manufacture and the assembly a substantially simplifying construction of a jack terminal retaining arrangement is guaranteed.